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Parliament Rejects Alternatives As May Offers To Resign; DUP Leaders Say They Won't Back May's Current Deal; Country Crippled By Second Blackout In Past Month; W.H. Official: No "Fresh" Plan To Replace Obamacare; Democrat Spars With Pompeo Over Kim Jong-un; Growing Far-Right Movement In Europe And Beyond; No Deal Brexit Scenario; U.S. Lawmakers Grill FAA over Relationship with Boeing; Europe Mandates Intelligent Speed Assistance System. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired March 28, 2019 - 01:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[01:00:00] JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello everybody! Thank you for joining us. I'm John Vause, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Ahead this hour, the nays have it. The British Parliament rejects all alternatives to Theresa May's Brexit deal, a plan that's so heated the Prime Minister is offering two quit on the last-ditch effort to save it.

Plus, the new face of the far-right extremist use social media videos and crowd-funding to bring hate into Europe's mainstream. And later will it save lives on the road or just put big brother behind the wheel? European regulators plan to use the latest automobile technology to control just how fast you can drive.

British lawmakers finally got their say on Brexit -- on the Brexit deal and they said it over and over and over again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BERCOW, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT: The no's were 400, so the no's have it. So the no's have it. So the no's have it. So the no's have it. So the no's have it. So the no's have it. So the no's have it. So the no's have it. Order, order, order, order!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Eight alternatives were tabled Wednesday, not one received a majority which leaves yes, the Prime Minister's twice rejected deal as the most viable option to avoid crashing out with a No Deal. And to sweeten all of this Theresa May has offered to resign as Prime Minister in return for all support from hardline conservative Brexiteers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY CORBYN, LEADER, LABOUR PARTY: My question on Monday went unanswered. So will the Prime Minister now say what is her plan be?

BERCOW: Prime Minister? THERESA MAY, PRIME MINISTER, UNITED KINGDOM: Can I say to the gentleman, as he knows we are continuing to work to ensure that we can deliver Brexit the British people and guarantee that we deliver Brexit for the British people. We have a deal which cancels our E.U. membership fee, which stops the E.U. making our laws, which gives us our own immigration policy, ends the common agricultural policy for good, ends the common fishery policy for good. Other options don't do that. Other options would lead to delay to uncertainty and risk never delivering Brexit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: CNN's European Affairs Commentator Dominic Thomas joins us now from Santa Ynez in California. So Dominic, you know, after all of the weeks of unhappiness, the anger, the accusations that the Prime Minister is an incompetent, that a deal with the E.U. just sucks, here is one comment from an M.P. which either make you laugh or make you cry, or maybe both.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICKY FORD, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, UNITED KINGDOM: I actually want to have another vote on the Prime Minister's deal. And the more that my colleagues in this place are looking at these other options on your order paper, the more some of them are going oh, actually you know, that Prime Minister still which we rejected before, that's not actually that bad of a deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: I mean, seriously? Vicky Ford, I mean, to be fair, she's one of the Prime Minister's supporters. But the reality is right now that's where this process could be heading, Theresa May's Brexit deal looking to be the least worst option and winning support from his hard-line Euroskeptics.

DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Well, yes. I mean, she's also you know, forgetting that all the way back in 1975 when the first referendum was held on whether or not to remain in the European economic market, folks voted almost 70 percent to remain and so that sort of been forgotten. You know, you can imagine that many of those people when you talk about once a lifetime are still alive and remember that. But having said that, yes, absolutely.

At the moment, the government's only piece of legislation that they are attempting to bring back to Parliament concerns the withdrawal agreement. It is the only agreement that has been approved by the European Union. And she has reached out to those far-right Brexiteers that have been holding back on supporting her and has essentially offered them her head in exchange for support.

So she's getting closer and closer to that magic number of possibly being able to get that deal through. And given the fact that there's nothing else on the table right now, this is what we have to focus on.

VAUSE: That magic number it's 320. That's the majority. By some counts, Theresa May has got 75 short. And she's winning over those you know, hard-line Brexiteers within the Conservative Party. People like Boris Johnson. His close ally M.P. Conor Burns explained why the sudden change.

Boris Johnson, he tweeted, absolutely right, telling MPs that the palpable risk of losing Brexit all together with the chance of change in the next phase means we have little choice but to vote for the withdrawal agreement.

So he rewrite that Brexit could go away altogether. On what -- under what circumstances could this Brexit end up being a no Brexit?

THOMAS: Well, if the withdrawal agreement is allowed to come before the MPs and it loses, we're in a very difficult situation then. Because of course if it passes, the Prime Minister will step down and pave the way for an internal Conservative Party election. But if it fails, you could imagine there being a vote of no-confidence or certainly a request for a No Deal and then all the other scenarios come back on the table.

Because at the moment the focus is on that, the second referendum, the people's vote, or a general election which could finally break this. So all of those scenarios would remain on the table should she be unable to successfully pass this motion through the houses of parliament.

[01:05:24] VAUSE: And a crucial factor here for Boris Johnson supporting Theresa May's deal according to The Times was a promise of -- where are we -- a new leader to succeed May that got him over the line. But Theresa May's promised to stand down, that didn't win her -- win over her coalition partners, the DUP. The deputy leader of the minority party for Northern Ireland issued a fairly blunt statement.

Given the fact that the necessary changes we seek to the backstop have not been secured, we will not be supporting the government if they table a fresh meaningful vote. You know, never say never with this Parliament but even though the DUP only has ten MPs, ten votes, we thought if they supported me and her deal, then other skeptics might follow. And if that doesn't happen, this whole thing is dead the water.

THOMAS: Yes. And the whole reason for them being part of this conversation was because back in 2017 Theresa May called a snap election, lost the conservative majority, and has been involved in this relationship with the DUP of confidence and supply. And it doesn't seem to be much confidence here of course.

The irony there is that for the Brexiteers they made such a big deal over the Irish backstop over time and it seems now that they've been able to proceed to in convincing the Prime Minister to step down in exchange for support for her withdrawal agreement is they seem to have sort of pushed the DUP into the background and their concern from Ireland has reduced.

But as far as the DUP are concerned, the one issue is the backstop and the integrity of the United Kingdom. And they've seen no movement on that and there's no reason why they should back down and support to resume on this. And this, therefore, makes the arithmetic very, very complicated for Prime Minister May.

VAUSE: Everybody watching this from around the world you know, there's a great deal of confusion, and great deal of confusion from people watching this from Brussels. But we heard from the E.U. leader Donald Tusk, he's get this door open for the U.K. and the possibility of a very long delay to Brexit deadline, and in that time maybe even a rethink. This is what he said to the European Parliament.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TUSK, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COUNCIL: You cannot betray the six million people who sign the petition to revoke article 50. There are one million people who much for a people vote or the increasing majority of people who wants to remain in the European Union.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: You know, he received a you know, a round of applause there, but it's his sort of a lone voice in Europe or you know, the majority -- you know, I could be wrong with this but it seems that they just want this all over and done with. They just want the U.K. out and done and gone.

THOMAS: Well, I think there are obviously many sides of the spectrum. When he speaks, Tusk speaks about the question of people's rights. Obviously then the applause is there and there's a deep institutional commitment to respecting these different communities that are currently members of the -- of the European Union. And of course, there's a long history of that, of this family of nations that came together after the Second World War.

But obviously, there is tremendous frustration within the European Union and for the sort of the concern about the institution itself, the integrity of this particular institution. And when they look historically, we just mentioned earlier in our discussion 1975 a referendum on remaining and what was the European Economic Community. That was only two years after they joined in 1973.

And throughout this process, the U.K. has been a thorn in the side of the European Union refusing to join the single currency, not signing on to the Schengen freedom of circulation and so on. And then David Cameron kept coming back to the European Union for asking for concessions.

So yes the level of frustration is there. But the even greater frustration is it is so obvious to the European Union where these negotiations have been going in the U.K. and they are especially concerned about the ways in which the Bexiteers are manipulating this process and potentially going to end up toppling Theresa May while at the same time not allowing the British people to weigh in through a second referendum or a general election. So in terms of democratic institutions, they are concerned about this.

VAUSE: If we go back you watch a couple of episodes of Fawlty Towers with John Cleese, you know, there's a lot of E.U. jokes and they're all you know, European community jokes in there which is well worth watching. It's kind of pretty relevant now. But in the meantime, listen to Theresa May. This is during the question time. It was followed by a soundbite from the opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAY: I expressed my frustration with our collective failure to take a decision. But I know that -- but I know that many members across this house are frustrated too.

CORBYN: The government's approach to Brexit has now become a national embarrassment. Every step of the way along this process the government has refused to reach out, refused to listen, and refuse to find a consensus that can represent the views of the whole country not just the Conservative Party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:10:11] VAUSE: Corbin isn't wrong here when he talks about May's refusal to you have any kind of compromise across the aisle. So if it does end up being a No Deal bracelet crash out with all the economic implications that come with it, the bottom line will be that as a prime minister, party unity and survival came before what was in the best interest of the country. Will that be her legacy?

THOMAS: Yes. I think there are a number of ways of looking at this. I think first of all, should she pass their withdrawal agreement and then as the Brexiteers have essentially requested step down, I think that that would be an aspect that will be -- whether it would be long debated let alone the sort of the gender politics of this -- of these Brexiteers like Rees-Mogg and Johnson pushing out a women prime minister in this way.

There's also the issue of what she did before she was Prime Minister, six years as Homeland Secretary under David Cameron, one could argue some very, very tough policies on immigration, the Windrush scandal and so on.

But I think at the moment at which Theresa May took over, having been a remainder alongside David Cameron, and then called a snap election in order to consolidate her power to push her vision of Brexit through and not immediately reaching across to other sides or other constituents, this is the great failing of Theresa May is the inability to listen.

And the way in which she has been manipulated and many would argue outsmarted by this hardcore right-wing Brexiteer group who look poised to take over the prime ministership. And so I think that that is something and that will take a long time for people to come to terms with.

VAUSE: And the week tonight is just halfway done. There's still so much more could happen. Dominic, Thank you. Good to see you.

THOMAS: Absolutely. Cheers, John. VAUSE: Well, a second nationwide power outage in less than a month has left millions of Venezuelans in the dark and without basic services like the internet and tap water. The beleaguered regime and Nicolas Maduro says the electrical infrastructure was attacked twice within hours. Repair work is underway but there's nowhere to when full services will be restored. Here's CNN's Paula Newton reporting in from Caracas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So when there's a blackout in Venezuela, there's a particular kind of misery that ensues at clinics like this. Dialysis becomes incredibly desperate. I want you to come with me inside this dialysis clinic. Everyone that you see here is lined up for dialysis that may or may not happen today.

They're still waiting for the generator. But the point is the clinic nurse who's right over here is letting people know that they will have to ration the dialysis. She is trying to take a list of all the patients and asking them look, when was the last time you had dialysis? I know you may think you need it today, but we're only taking patients that haven't had dialysis since last week.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We urgently need a generator here permanently.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My life and the life of everyone here depends on that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's been more than eight days since I had dialysis. You can see on my face what my situation is like. I feel bad.

NEWTON: Now, the staff here is trying to get them to other centers that may have a generator working, but as I said, the longer this blackout goes on, the more desperate the medical situation becomes. And that's on top of everything else that everyone deals with trying to get gas in their gas tank. We have seen very long lines for gasoline already. And then there is the scramble for water, the scramble for food.

Every hour that this blackout continues, it has a more destabilizing effect on everyone. And really normal life comes to a complete halt as they wait and pray for the power to come back on. Paula Newton CNN Caracas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: A national assembly leader and self-declared interim president Juan Guaido has criticized the Maduro government for bringing foreign military into Venezuela instead of much-needed equipment to fix the power crisis. And the U.S. president agrees to a meeting with Guaido's wife at the White House on Wednesday. Donald Trump slam reports of Russian military planes touching down in Venezuela.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Russia has to get out. What's your next question.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

TRUMP: We'll see. We'll see. We'll see. All options are open. All -- just so you understand, all options are open.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And fresh off, what he says is total exoneration by Special Counsel Robert Mueller in the Russia investigation, the U.S. President is now focusing health care. Republicans are being campaigning against Obamacare for a decade but senior White House official tells CNN this administration actually has no fresh plan. CNN's Abby Phillip reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Tonight, President Trump is defending his administration's surprise decision to join a lawsuit that would entirely eliminate the Affordable Care Act commonly referred to as Obamacare.

[01:15:01] DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Phase one of the lawsuit terminates Obamacare, essentially, terminates Obamacare. You know that, that's the Texas lawsuit. We think it'll be upheld that we think it'll do very well in the Supreme Court.

PHILLIP: But sources tell CNN, there is no such plan.

TRUMP: We are going to be the Republicans, the party of great health care.

PHILLIP: The administration's decision came after months of heated debate among Trump's advisors. But sources say, it still caught key lawmakers and even some White House officials' off-guard.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: Last year, I wrote to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and protested the department not defending the parts of the law that provide protections to consumers with pre-existing conditions.

Now, the administration is going way beyond that and seeking to invalidate the entire law. This is contrary to the tradition of the Justice Department which generally defends loss.

ALEX AZAR, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: One key area's health care --

PHILLIP: CNN has learned that Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar and Attorney General Bill Barr opposed the move. Azar worried that the administration did not have a plan to replace Obamacare. And Barr, backed lawyers within the administration who opposed the legal case being made by the states against Obamacare. But Trump's acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney argued for overturning the entire law. Hoping to put the issue back on the agenda for congressional Republicans.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our chance is any greater than zero that this Congress could come together on a replacement.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC), SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: You know, I doubt it, but what is the Republican Party for? Don't you think --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is the -- what's the Republican Party alternative?

GRAHAM: A block grant. They take the money out of Washington.

PHILLIP: All this as the debate rages about why special counsel Robert Mueller decided against taking a position on whether Trump obstructed justice. According to NBC News, a former FBI director James Comey, telling an audience in Charlotte on Tuesday, "The part that's confusing is, I can't quite understand what's going on with the obstruction stuff. I just can't tell from the letter why he didn't decide these questions when the entire rationale for a special counsel is to make sure the politicals aren't making the key charging decisions."

The president's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, offering this explanation instead.

RUDY GIULIANI, ATTORNEY TO PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I have a guess as to what happened. I think his staff was in -- was in debate over. And it's a question of interpretation on the fact.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: But you know -- you know --

PHILLIP: And as Democrats demand to see the full Mueller report, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, again, blocked the democratic effort to call for the reports full release. And despite Trump's claim that the report is a total and complete exoneration, a new CNN poll shows a majority of voters say the president and his campaign have not been exonerated by Mueller. Instead, 56 percent say they believe collusion simply could not be proven.

As President Trump tries to shift the attention from Mueller to this issue of health care, that decision is causing some consternation among some congressional Republicans. This issue was such a big motivator for Democrats in the 2018 election and Republicans are not eager to put it back on the table. One of them, the House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, reportedly called President Trump to tell him it was a bad idea. But, of course, President Trump seems convinced that Republicans can ultimately win on health care. Abby Phillip, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: A U.S. House Democrat has a serious question for the Trump administration. What's to like about Kim Jong-un? Tom Malinowski, served as assistant secretary of state for democracy and human rights. Some tough questions for the current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Donald Trump has been effusive in his praise for Mr. Kim. Just last week, he caught off plan large-scale sanctions on North Korea. The White House explaining, the president likes Chairman Kim.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. TOM MALINOWSKI (D), NEW JERSEY: Is Kim Jong-un responsible for maintaining North Korea's system of labor camps?

MIKE POMPEO, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: He is the leader of the country. Is he responsible for ordering the execution of his uncle, the assassination by chemical agent of his half-brother?

POMPEO: He is the leader of the country.

MALINOWSKI: Was he responsible for the decision not to allow Otto Warmbier to come home until he was on death's door.

POMPEO: I'll leave the president's statement to stand, he made that statement. We all know that the North Korean regime was responsible for the tragedy that occurred to Otto Warmbier. I've met that family. I know those people. I love them dearly. They suffered mightily, sir.

MALINOWSKI: So, what's to like?

POMPEO: They suffered mightily, sir.

MALINOWSKI: So what's to like about Kim Jong-un?

(CROSSTALK)

POMPEO: Sir, don't make this a political football. It's inappropriate. That's inappropriate to do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:19:51] VAUSE: U.S. college student Otto Warmbier was arrested in North Korea in 2017. He returned to the U.S., brain damaged and in a coma, and dead within days.

Next up on CNN NEWSROOM, the young, clean-cut, well-organized, and some say reinventing racism. The new face of the far-right. Just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: A big step from Facebook, terranean hate speech and extremism online. Saying they'll ban all praise and support and representation of white nationalism and separatism. Saying those ideologies cannot be meaningfully separated from white supremacy and organized hate groups.

While people will still be able to demonstrate pride in their ethnic heritage, the same insist, "We will not tolerate praise or support for white nationalism or separatism.

The Austrian chancellor is considering two spanning a far-right group and through his linked to the gunman who killed 50 Muslims in New Zealand almost two weeks ago. Prosecutors say the Australian government donated almost $1,700 to the group's leader in Austria. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is calling for an investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN KURZ, CHANCELLOR OF AUSTRIA (through translator): Our position on this is very clear, no kind of extremism whatsoever. Whether it's radical Islamists or right-wing extremist fanatics has anyplace in our country, in our society.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Another right-wing group this one in Germany, also had financial ties to the New Zealand suspect. The group is called Generation Identity, part of a growing far-right movement in Europe and beyond. CNN's Nic Robertson reports from Germany.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: They are the new face of Europe's far-right. Young clean-cut activist, run in training camps, blocking a migrant route through Europe. Crowd funding a ship in the Mediterranean to turn migrants back to Africa. They call themselves Generation Identity. And claim, European culture and identity is in danger from Islam and immigration.

ALEXANDER KLEINE, ACTIVIST, GENERATION IDENTITY: We are addressing young people that go to university or to school and say, OK, I want -- I don't want terrorism, I don't want a mass migration in Europe.

ROBERTSON: German activist Alexander "Malenki" Kleine is one of their breakout social media stars.

KLEINE: That we need a protection of --

ROBERTSON: He is still angry that Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel allowed more than a million migrants into the country three years ago.

KLEINE: Oh, there you can see this blockades.

ROBERTSON: He takes me to a barricade put up following a deadly radical Islamist terror attack in Berlin two years ago.

KLEINE: I don't want to live in a country that needs a road blockades. I don't want to live in a country where terrorist attacks are normal. I don't want to live in a country where women's has to cover their hair because, yes, Islamization. Yes, that's not racist. [01:25:12] ROBERTSON: But these extreme views have landed them on the watch list of Germany's domestic intelligence agency. How should I understand the Identitarian movement?

WERNER PATZELT, POLITICAL SCIENTIST, TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY DRESDEN: They are reinventing German racism, and this makes them dangerous. This basic attitude, you can't be a German unless you're a German, so to speak, by nature.

ROBERTSON: The dangers are real after a Syrian migrant allegedly killed a German this summer. Right-wing groups in the now-infamous town called Chemnitz came out in force to protest against refugees and immigration.

Police, a left-wing protesters faced off with right-wing thugs. In the scuffle, at least, two migrants were attacked by an angry mob. The message was clear, "You are not welcome."

Nowhere in Germany is the rise of the right bigger than in prosperous Saxony. Every Monday for four years, supporters of the right-wing PEGIDA group have marched in Dresden, protesting against immigration.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will change Germany totally. People from Africa and every (INAUDIBLE) come to here and destroy our economy and our culture.

ROBERTSON: Among this crowd, Trump's America-first policies are popular. I meet a politician whose right-wing party road this discontent from zero to 25 percent in the last local election.

FRANK NEUFERT, COUNCILOR, ALTERNATIVE FUR DEUTSCHLAND (through translator): The established parties have lost contact with the citizens. Tax policy, family policy, everything went wrong. And then, the migration crisis. That's when many woke up and said, something is not quite right here. This was too much.

ROBERTSON: (INAUDIBLE) AFD went mainstream by promising to close the borders. The kind of rhetoric that propelled Donald Trump in the U.S. It has become the first far-right party to enter Germany's Parliament in almost 60 years. And is now the official German opposition.

There is no single reason for the rise of the right-wing here and root causes vary from region to region. But there are common threads. And biggest among them is immigration. And that issue is causing a surge in the right-wing all across Europe.

The old political order is crumbling where Germany, Europe, or the U.S. go from here is uncharted territory. Nic Robertson, CNN, Saxony, Germany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Next on CNN NEWSROOM. For most, it's the worst case scenario but to hardline Euroskeptic, it's a fabulous opportunity. And no deal Brexit. We'll have a closer look at the economic impact when we come back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Thanks for staying with us.

I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.

British lawmakers have rejected all eight alternatives laid out through Theresa May's Brexit deal. The prime minister has now offered to resign if fellow conservatives will back the deal she negotiated with the E.U.

But the Speaker of the House said yet again, there will be no third vote on Mrs. May's maze deals without substantial changes to it.

The second major blackout in less than a month is now into its fourth day in Venezuela. National assembly leader Juan Guaido is calling for demonstrators to protest this weekend. The embattled president Nicolas Maduro blames the U.S. for sabotaging the electrical network.

Facebook says white nationalists and separatists content will no longer be tolerated on the social media platform. The company says those ideologies cannot be meaningfully separated from white supremacy and organized hate crimes.

Well, back to Brexit now and the potential impact of a no deal scenario, which is looking more likely. And for that we are joined once again by global business executive Ryan Patel live in Los Angeles.

Ok. Most of the conversation to this point has been about deal versus a no deal exit from the E.U. the latter considered the worst case option. But you know, from the hardline Euro-sceptics they see it differently. Many prefer a no-deal exit over a deal like one Theresa May negotiated.

Here's a line from the leave.eu Web site. Yes, it's a bad deal. It could be very bad indeed considering all the promises made during the referendum -- open borders, massive payments to the E.U. coffers, you name it. But a no deal is at worst benign, at best fabulous opportunity for a fairer, more prosperous Britain."

On which planet is a no-deal exit a fabulous opportunity?

RYAN PATEL, GLOBAL BUSINESS EXECUTIVE: Well, not this one. And I would say Pluto. Pluto is not even a planet anymore. So let's put it there, I guess.

You know, for I think everyone who is looking at these numbers, you look at what a no deal equals, right. You are talking about the fifth largest economy in the world. We are talking about the U.K., right, with that GDP, with them losing since the referendum 2 percent of the GDP, you may say that's not that much.

The Bank of England said it is 40 billion pounds. The Bank of England even came out and said well, a no deal equals to actually 75 percent of the GDP of manufacturing and services will take a hit. You talk about food shortage. Again knowing that there's no other trade deal in place.

They will lose deals, not just with the E.U., but obviously free trade agreement with Turkey and Japan. I can keep going. The list can keep going down.

VAUSE: A fabulous opportunity to go back in time in live like it was, you know, during World War II perhaps.

PATEL: Yes. It is just amazing to me that we have this kind of rhetoric where, as much as you want to see what is going on in parliament, everybody kind of is shaking their head going, we have to figure this out because a no deal is not an option.

Well, it does seem to be like the only one which is on the table. The most likely one at this point. And if that happens, the U.K. government has a plan. They will slash tariffs to try and absorb all the massive hike in prices.

"Under the temporary system tariffs would be slashed to zero on 87 percent of imports to the U.K. as part of a plan to prevent a $9 billion price shock to business and consumers. This emergency tariff regime will be in place for up to 12 months. A mixture of tariff rates would be retained for some goods, including agricultural imports as well as cars."

Ok. So let's look at the positive news out of this, you know. If Britain leaves the E.U., they will control their own trade policy, as well as monetary policy. They can stimulate the economy. So all that will actually soften the impact to some extent of a no deal, right.

PATEL: For the first 12 months. This is their plan, right. I mean this is pretty much what the deal was on a play of a soft Brexit move, right.

This is -- you're just kind of buying more time.

I mean even interest rates, for example, they are going to have to maybe take a hit and slow down their monetary policy. These are all things that they would have to do.

Everybody thought that exiting, or Brexit and that you can just move on with our lives without the E.U. was completely false. You have to do something with a strategy. At least there is a plan in the short term, but that does not mean it is the best piece to it.

VAUSE: Ok. Here's the downside. Some tariffs would remain in place and, in some cases, the cost of imports would actually go up. Beef, up 7 percent. Cheese up U.S. 26 dollars for 100 kilograms. Imported fully finished cars will be hit by an almost 11 percent levy -- that's equal to 1,500 pounds at $2,000 for the average new car.

Tins of tuna, as they call it, up by 24 percent. Imported men's wool jackets up 12 percent. Underwear made from synthetic fiber up 12 percent. That is an immediate hit to consumers. You know, the cans of tuna and polyester undies -- they're small, right. And that's not --

(CROSSTALK)

[01:35:05] VAUSE: But these are substantial increase.

PATEL: You put that stat in there, just throw it in there to make me laugh. I know you did.

VAUSE: I'm sorry.

PATEL: The last two years, you can see consumer spending has actually decreased, even with the economy, even with the way globally the economy has been pretty decent up to the last few months. The U.K. GDP should have been falling, but it has not.

So with what you have said with those kind of examples I just want the audience to understand that when you take the U.K. again, as a whole on a top five GDP economies in the world and you are talking about food shortages. That is a pretty big deal.

And you talk about manufacturing and a price hit intakes and importing and exporting cars with tariff obviously very strongly in that belt. It does make it a detrimental effect.

VAUSE: As they put it, it's all self-inflicted. And those government numbers are the increase in cost of goods. They do not take into account I think you know, the foreign currency.

"The Economist" magazine used the betting site bet-fair (ph) and the odds of a Brexit crash out at -- you know, these bets always never (INAUDIBLE).

You know, the past few months, every time a no deal is more likely, the value of the pound went down. The odds of Betfair went up. There was the formula. They found there is a 95 percent chance sterling would fall from its current price of about $1.32 to between $1.08 which is actually back in 1985, and $1.18 -- most likely value would be, you know, $1.13. It is down 15 percent. As you said lowest level since 1985.

Actually your canned tuna and your polyester undies will cost even more.

PATEL: Well, I guess you're going to have to go to the U.K. to go buy your stuff too. So I mean --

(CROSSTALKING)

PATEL: -- at the end of the day, yes, the sterling has taken a hit. And I think there is that correlation to be behind it. And the bigger question becomes, well, what about those investors who are now looking to go into the U.K.? I think the purpose was to stimulate growth internally with the U.K., with being U.K. consumers and entrepreneurs.

This is going to have an opposite effect and maybe from investments from all over rest of the world. Again, that is not what they wanted to go down to. The currency is going to hurt the consumers. The stagnant wages does not help. You know, the consumer spending at the end of the day will hurt. And you know, this is not a win-win situation.

VAUSE: Lower currency though does help exporters for a time, but, you know, it swings around at the end of the day.

We also have this prediction from "The Economist", using that same model about (INAUDIBLE). "The worst losers would be domestic British banks, heavily exposed to the housing market. For each rise of 10 percentage points in Betfair's deal price, the average share price of Lloyd and the Royal Bank of Scotland has fallen by five, almost 5.5 percent of their current value. This implies that no deal would cut them nearly in half."

That is a massive hit. We also have, you know, the entire real estate market will take a very big hit. Again, winners and losers. So first homeowners who are trying to buy, that's good for them. If you're hoping to sell your house and retire it's bad for you.

PATEL: Yes. But you've seen what's going on for the last two years who's making any kind of risky moves right now in the U.K.?

VAUSE: No one.

PATEL: Right -- it is not -- nobody is. Because they don't know. And I think one of the biggest things about this Brexit piece is that I truly believe that small businesses, medium businesses are actually not really prepared that there are no deal option is actually going to concur. And even the Bank of England actually kind of came out and said that majority are not really ready for this.

If anybody wants to be scared on some numbers, go take a look at the Bank of England's report a few weeks ago when they broke down the Brexit number of what it's going to cost and what is going to happen going forward.

Again, mind you, this is coming from the Bank of England. They should be scary to everyone else and the banks that -- this is real. This is not a made-up number. These are facts and research that they put back behind it.

VAUSE: Facts, research -- go on. What does that matter? You want to just pretend everything is great and sing war songs and gather around the -- ok. Ryan -- thank you. Good to see you.

PATEL: Thanks for having me.

VAUSE: Right.

Well, in the aftermath of two crashes in five months, U.S. lawmakers grilled the Federal Aviation Administration about its relationship with Boeing and if that close relationship compromised safety.

Here is Drew Griffin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The FAA allowed Boeing to roll out a new redesigned 737 with new computer software called MCAS on board, new engine formation, redesigned winglets and yet the FAA allowed Boeing to promote the Max as being so similar to recent versions of the 737 that airlines would save millions on training because experienced 737 pilots would require no more than a computer course to fly.

ED WILSON BOEING CHIEF PILOT: The FAA approved this for two and a half hours of computer-based trading for the transition between the two aircraft.

GRIFFIN: 737 pilot and union rep Jason Goldberg says his training consisted of 56 minutes on an iPad. It never mentioned MCAS.

JASON GOLDBERG, ALLIED PILOTS ASSOCIATION: Our pilots were not aware of the existence of the MCAS system at all. Nor do we have any reference prior to the Lion Air crash that the MCAS system existed or what it actually did.

GRIFFIN: On Capitol Hill, the question is why.

[01:39:59] CALVIN SCOVEL, U.S. TRANSPORTATION INSPECTOR GENERAL: Clearly, confidence in FAA as the gold standard for aviation safety has been shaken.

GRIFFIN: Why did the FAA allow Boeing to roll out a system that no one knew about? Why were the retraining requirements so minimal? And was the relationship between federal regulators and Boeing so cozy that the FAA overlooked some crucial safety issues?

It's all under review, say U.S. Transportation officials.

DANIEL ELWELL, FAA ACTING ADMINISTRATOR: The FAA will go wherever the facts lead us in our pursuit of safety.

GRIFFIN: The fact, is the FAA does not have the resources. The federal agency tasked with making sure new airplanes are safe is allowed to outsource inspections to delegated organizations, which are designated to perform the authorized functions of the FAA.

Who are they? In this case, they are Boeing employees hired by Boeing, paid by Boeing to oversee Boeing.

DAVID SOUCIE, FORMER FAA INSPECTOR: Boeing hires their own people, they certify their own people, they oversee their own people with how they get this airplane manufactured.

The FAA has very little if anything to do with the actual manufacturing of the aircraft.

GRIFFIN: Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao on Capitol Hill today admitted there may be a problem.

ELAINE CHAO, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: The FAA does not build planes, they certify. They need to have the input from the manufacturer.

Having said that, I am of course concerned about any allegations of coziness with any company, manufacturer.

GRIFFIN: As lawmakers debated with regulators, Boeing rolled out software fixes it hopes will lift the grounding of its 737 Max. Not an admission this system caused the crash, but according to Boeing, "a way to make it more robust and we are making that change now".

The company says its MCAS computer system that points the airplane nose down in the event of a potential stall will not engage unless two instruments that measure the angle a plane is flying agree something is wrong. Up until now, the plane relied on just one reading with no backup.

Once FAA approves, Boeing officials say planes could be back in the air in days. And for 737 max pilots, all you will have to take is a computer based training around the upgrade which would last about a half an hour.

Drew Griffin, CNN -- Denver.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: India's prime minister has appealed on national television to declare his country as a global space power. Narendra Modi announced the successful anti-satellite missile test. The other countries -- the United States, Russia and China have anti-satellite missile capability. India says the test is for defense and security.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARUN JAITLEY, INDIAN FINANCE MINISTER (through translator): Tomorrow's wars will not be the same as yesterday's wars. Conventional army, navy. air force -- after that cyber and after cyber -- space.

The country has to prepare for all of this as we are in such a geopolitical situation that our preparation it's our biggest deterrent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: India space program has steadily grown over the past decade. In response to the latest test, rival Pakistan said every nation has the responsibility to avoid actions which militarize space.

Next up on CNN NEWSROOM, want to put a little pedal to the metal? Get your motor running? Born to be wild but not anymore. Thanks Europe.

[01:43:22] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Three years from now all fun will end. New cars sold in Europe will be required to have intelligent speed assistance systems. What is that? Well, it is a kill joy device. Automaker limiting engine power to the posted speed limits. Safety advocates are cheering all of this saying it will save lives so yes, it is a good thing. And the driver can actually override the system.

Alistair Weaver is editor-in-chief of Edmunds.com. He joins us from Los Angeles. Ok. Alistair -- thanks for coming in.

Here's an example of how the system will actually work. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLIVER CARSTEN, INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORT STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS: I've just gone through a change from 30 to 40 miles an hour on the speed limit and that is shown on the dashboard. It happened almost immediately. So actually, in I push on the accelerator pedal, it won't go any faster than 40 miles an hour.

My speed limit is limited to 40. I touched the button and now the limiter is disabled. The car just behaves like any ordinary car without the ISA system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: What was that first bit? It just seemed awful.

ALISTAIR WEAVER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, EDMUNDS.COM: Well, the interesting thing for me is once again, you are trying to treat the machine instead of the person behind the wheel. I think on the roads, today driving standards aren't as good as they should be. There's a lot of problems with distraction in the sort of cellphone age.

I mean I live in L.A. and just driving around the city, so many people are, you know, texting and everything else on the move. So for me, we are treating the symptom and not the cause and this is not -- you know, this is not a step in the right direction for me. We are treating the wrong thing.

VAUSE: Interesting. So, what happens? You know, you have to accelerate to get around that loser in front of you who is barely doing the speed limit. What do you do then?

WEAVER: Yes. That's the big issue. I mean one of the things that the E.U. is saying here is that this will not be, this will only be there to assist the driver. So if there is a problem that you need to overtake that truck or on a country lane, then actually you will be able to override it which sort of begs the question of what the point of having it in the first place.

I even understand that you'd be able to turn it off completely. So it's a strange system. One thing for me that I think is actually the bigger issue here is they are also making it mandatory to have a date recorder. So all your driving habits will be recorded.

And then it's a question of who manages this data, who owns this data. How is it used? This is sort big brother in your car. And that's it. For me it's the part with this legislation that is being missed at the moment. VAUSE: Yes. That's interesting. Ok. Here's how the European

overlords and haters of freedom are selling this device. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELZBIETA BIENKOWSKA, EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER: The new rules have the potential to save thousands of lives. And avoid many serious injuries in the next ten years. This will also pave the way for driverless future of connected an automated driving.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Ok. Thousands of lives, blah, blah, blah. You know, is that true? I mean can this device say that because, you know, from your point of view, it's not the car, it's the driver.

And there's also questions about how this will work, you know, on an integrated bases, you know, across a number of countries.

WEAVER: Well, I think it is true that inappropriate use of speed kills. And there are many accidents on the roads across the world where drivers are being irresponsible. They are driving too fast for the conditions.

I was nearly involved in an accident last week in southern California where it was raining, it was sunset, it was difficult to see where you are going. People were simply driving too fast. But simply trying to just slow people down arbitrarily is not really the atmosphere. For me, it is more about education.

I mean the actual technology used here is actually familiar to a lot of cars that are already on the roads. We have a lot of traffic, sign recognition technology and a lot of modern cars. We have adapted cruise control. So there is nothing inherently new in the technology. It is really about how it is being applied.

[01:49:58] And my concern is that people will simply allow this system to take over reduce their speed to 40 miles an hour and carry on and not really think about it.

But in many cases, 40 miles an hour might be too fast for the conditions. You might be passing a school, or weather conditions might be that.

So again, it is taking the intelligence out of the system, even if it is called intelligence speed assistant. It's not for me.

VAUSE: Yes. And in fact that opinion piece in the "Daily Mail" sort of sums that up. It puts it this way. "I can't help being made queasy at the prospect of Big Brother controlling one's car. There will no longer be -- a sometimes irritating back seat driver who can mostly be ignored. He'll be in charge.

My main objection is that while I don't mind getting advice from a robot, I certainly don't want to be ruled by one. We are moral beings and should decide for ourselves how we obey the law."

But you know, even more than that, is this the beginning of that dystopian future that we're warned about in the 1981 classic film, "The Last Chase" starring Lee Majors. Now, in case you did not see it., I'd be surprised if you haven't but here's a clip. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE MAJORS, ACTOR: Those of us who survived learn to cope with changes. I lost the chance to do what I do best -- race cars.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This car should have been turned in. Come on, move it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is it?

MAJORS: It's a car.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: So how long will it be before, you know, they take away our Porsche Roadsters and you know, cars will outlawed? Or everybody has take public transportation. We are all living in this daddy state.

WEAVER: It's an issue. I mean we are obviously looking at an autonomous future within ten or 15 years. There will be cars on the road that can genuinely drive themselves.

But as a car enthusiast myself, I hope that that is not the end of the car as an expression of freedom and the joy of driving. And certainly, if you are a brand like Porsche or Jaguar or something like that who, you know, your whole being is based on driving pleasure, then, you know, it's going to be a big challenge.

Well, you know, how -- where do you go? Where does all this lead? And you know, it is -- for somebody who was brought up on driving and loves it there is some worrying signs in all of this.

VAUSE: Yes, absolutely. Go watch "The Last Chase". Went straight to VHS in 1981 -- that's how good it was.

Alistair -- good to see you.

WEAVER: Thanks.

VAUSE: Thank you.

Ok. The royal couple samples all Cuba bas to offer coming up. What the well-received visit of Prince Charles could actually mean for the U.K. Cuba Relations?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Kissing the Pope's ring has long been seen as a sign of respect to God's emissary on ear, but video of Pope Francis repeatedly pulling his hand as many try to kiss his ring has raised a few eyebrows. This happened at an audience in Italy. in Italy. Some critics say it's proof that Pope Francis is a abandoning church doctrine. Others point out that he'd already greeted a lot of people and still mean who were affected.

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla have just wrapped up their first trip to Cuba. Our royal correspondent Max Foster is traveling with the couple. Good job -- Max.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Future king and car fan, The Prince of Wales driving his wife to a British vintage vehicles event in style. An offer of a cigar to finish off the look.

[01:54:58] There was a sizable public turn out here for British royal. The family is not exactly high-profile here, despite the U.K. references around the capital -- William Shakespeare, John Lennon.

Local and international media falling over themselves to capture every moment to capture every moment of this historic official visit, the first by British royal. British links to the island celebrated as relations deepen between the two countries. A very different approach from the United States, which is pulling back from Cuba.

TANG AHMAD, U.K. MINISTER OF STATE: If you have a dispute with anyone, if you have a disagreement with anyone, you should never stop talking. Diplomacy and discussion is part and parcel of how you win people around.

FOSTER: The prince and the duchess also enjoying this famous revolutionary songs from the 1920s. Later, a chance for the duchess to indulge in her passion for horses.

She wasn't entirely sure though about the Cuba cuisine. At least, that is what she said before coming to Cuba. Which is why the cameras were braced for her reaction to this taste test. Meanwhile, her husband was grappling with a sugarcane press.

State media have given the couple glowing coverage of their time here. They're predicting increased commercial and cultural relations between the two island nations. Mission then accomplished for the delegations from both countries.

Max Foster, CNN -- Havana, Cuba.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Max isn't even sweating. Do you know how humid and hot Cuba is?

Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.

News continues here right after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Eight alternatives and a rejections. British lawmakers do nothing to break the Brexit deadlock. And now the Prime Minister is putting her job on the line as a last resort to resolve the impasse.

[02:00:00] The U.S. president turns to focus terms to health care. Donald Trump pushes to eliminate Obamacare.

END